Night's Shades
by GomamonisAwesome
Summary: A continuation requested by a friend.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Ray, I need to talk to you about something…" I said, already feeling the pain.

"Huh, sure Clayton." He said, slowing to walk by me. I saw the red spill through and hid it.

"I'm addicted to something…" I said.

"I don't care…I'll get you something to help with the withdrawl-,"

"Something else." I said.

"What is it?" He asked smiling. I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'm addicted to blades." I said. He pushed my softly off so he could look at me.

"What do you mean, blades?" He asked. I slowly rolled up my sleeves, showing him my arms. He took one in his hands.

"What…is this?" He asked.

"They're the cuts that I put on myself." I said, explaining. The others had walked on ahead.

"You, did this to yourself?" Ray asked, tears streaming down his face.

"I did…" I whispered. He wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"Why?" He asked. That single word. Why. The one word that was my downfall.

"I was too emotionally scarred, I made my body as scarred." I said. He pulled my arm up and held it between me and him. He put my hand on his heart.

"Feel that? That's my heart, which beats for you." Ray said. By this time I had tears streaming down my face. I jumped forward and he held me, making me feel safe for the first time in forever.

"Look, humanssss." A few snake typed digimon said.

"They will make an excellent sssnack." One said. The four digimon started chasing us. I yanked my sleeves down, and grabbed Ray, carrying him bridal-style.

"Put me down!" He yelled.

"NO!" I shouted, running harder. They were gaining on us.

"You'll run faster!" Ray urged.

"And YOU won't run at all! You'll try to protect me!" I yelled, running harder yet. "I won't lose you to this!" I shouted, reaching into my belt, grabbing one of the many hidden knives on me. I put Ray onto my back, and turned around, getting my target, and throwing the knife into its trunk.

"Please Clayton, go." He said, dropping down off of my back, causing me to stop and whip around. He was standing, arms outstretched, as the snake-mon charged up breath attacks.

"Poison FANG!" They yelled, shooting the toxin at them. He turned smiling at me, as the attacks struck.

Ray POV.

I turned to smile at my boyfriend, and just before the attacks struck I saw him dart forward. I tried to stop him, but was too late. After the dust cleared, the other digidestined were running back to check on us. What they saw was Clayton, holding me, with his back turned toward the snake digimon. I was standing shocked. Again. How many times is he going to get hurt because of me?

"No…" I said.

"I…Love you…" Clayton said, falling unconscious.

"Our poissson is paralyzzzing. Only lethal if taken unwillingly…" They said. I sighed in relief. Clayton was only paralyzed.

"Gabumon, digivolve, to…GARURUMON!" Garurumon called, three of the group broke off to fight him.

"Agumon, digivolve to…GREYMON!" Greymon shouted, causing another three to charge off to fight.

"Let's do this!" Gatomon called to her boymon Patamon.

"Right!" Patamon called back, both of them glowing.

"Patamon, digivolve to,"

"Gatomon, digivolve to,"

"ANGEMON!"

"ANGEWOMAN!" They called in sync, charging up large beams of twin energy.

"Twin ARTIFACTS!" They called, charging up incredibly powerful beams which fused with each other, forming an angel of blue and pink energy. Garurumon and Greymon rounded them up into a group so the attack would hit. "LIGHT CANNON!" They called, arcing into the sky. After they flew into the sky, they started flying back down, loosing the energy through their wings. The energy was boosted and it struck the snake-mon, causing it to explode. The ground where they were, was gone. A large chasm was in the ground.

"We sssurrender." The remaining two said. Clayton was barely able to move, but he threw sand at them.

"Then LEAVE!" Clayton yelled. They hurriedly left.

"Are you okay!?" Erik yelled, running back. He was much farther ahead, and by the time he noticed everyone was back here, he was too late. I turned to glare at him, but Clayton accepted the hand up.

"I'm going to be fine." Clayton said, asking me to pull out the stingers that they threw. He gasped in pain as I pulled one out.

"Are you alright?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah, keep going." Clayton said, although I could feel the pain in his voice.

"Alright…" I said. I grabbed two and yanked them out. I pulled them out all as fast as possible. Clayton screamed in pain. After I finished I hugged him. "I'm sorry." I said.

"Don't be." Clayton said.

"Let's keep moving." Tai said. We nodded and followed. I saw Garenomon and Skellymon walk hand in hand and smiled. I looked through the group and saw all of the couples.

Joe and Matt.

Gabumon and Gomamon.

Tai and Sora.

Agumon and Tentomon.

Biyomon and Hawkmon.

Patamon and Gatomon.

Palmon and Armadillomon.

Kari and TK.

Izzy and Mimi.

"Wow…There are a lot of digidestined couples." I commented.

"There are. I never noticed." Clayton commented.

"Well, maybe it helps our team chemistry." Cody said.

"That's an excellent hypothesis I'd like to test out." Izzy said.

"Let's not." Mimi said. Joe nodded.

"I agree, that could end up getting us killed." Joe commented.

"Let's just get out of the digital world. This one week excursion has been shit. Too many times has someone gotten hurt for my liking." We all nodded and found the digiport and went back to the human world.

"Hey, Garenomon, I-," I stopped. In Garenomon's place was a kid about my height, with black hair, and a blue hoodie. I saw the same for Daragoramon, except he had a red sweatshirt and brown hair.

"Whoa, is this your guys' human form?" I asked. Skellymon nodded. He had blonde hair and a black sweatshirt.

"I believe so." He said. We walked out and realized it was about two hours after we left.

"SHIT!" I yelled, running home. Clayton wasn't far behind, his house was about three blocks away from mine.

"I'm so freaking screwed!" Clayton yelled.

"Me too!" I yelled, laughing running back to my house.

"Well, we're just going to have to fight through it." Clayton said smiling. I nodded and ran hand in hand with him.


	2. Chapter 2

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!?" My dad yelled. For each day spent in the digital world, an hour had passed.

"10:59" I replied shyly.

"Well, get your homework done and go to bed." He sighed, getting ready for work.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said, leaving for his job. I ran up to my room and did the stupid homework.

"God dammit…I'm so fucking tired." I said. Garenomon walked in.

"Hey Clayton, how's it going?" He asked. I looked at him.

"Shitty." I said. "Now you're going to have to hide all day while my dad is home and I'm at school. Just meet me there at around three thirty PM. We all convene for the trips then." I said. He nodded and looked at my bed. "You'll also sleep next to me." I said.

"I'll be fine on the floor." He said shyly.

"Nonsense, it'll be fine. I'm more of a shy sleeper." I said. "I curl into a ball and don't move very much at all."

"Oh. Well, if it's alright with Ray I guess I could sleep next to you." He said. I laughed.

"You're my digimon, you'll be fine." I laughed. He smiled slowly and then was laughing as well. I then proceeded to put my books down and eat something before I went to bed. I then walked around listening to music, doing all sorts of things. I then noticed it was around 2 in the morning and sighed, going back to bed. Garenomon crawled in beside me and curled up onto my chest, effectively choking me.

"Garenomon, you're just a little heavy in your human form." I choked out. He got up and cuddled into my chest. "That's better." I smiled and went to sleep with my partners slow, melodic breathing. When I woke up later, I knew something was off.

"I hate you." I heard Garenomon say. I turned to see him start to make out with Skellymon while flipping me off.

"You're such a fucking faggot." I heard, turning I saw Erik.

"I wish you had actually died all those times." I heard from a voice which broke my heart. I turned to see Ray standing there. I fell back into the hallway while their voices all tore into me. I fell to the ground blacking out.

When I woke up, I ran to the bathroom, and pulled out a box. I yanked a razor out and pulled it across my skin a few times. I sighed in relief.

"Clayton, what are you doing?" Ray asked. I turned to see him and Garenomon standing in the doorway.

I sat up, in a cold sweat, and looked around. I felt sick to my stomach. I ran to the bathroom and puked and puked and puked. When I was finished I walked out and noticed the time.

_Shit. _I thought. I called my dad and told him I was sick. He sighed and said he'd call the school.

"Clayton, I thought you had school." Garenomon said, walking out of my room.

"I'm sick today Garenomon." I said sadly.

"Oh. Well, I'll stay here with you." He said. A few hours later I heard a knock at my door. Garenomon went and opened it.

"Hi Ray, how're you?" He asked.

"I'm good. Is Clayton here?" He asked. Garenomon nodded and showed him to me.

"Hey…I'm kind of a mess right now." I said. He smiled and set a bag down next to me.

"Yolei asked me to bring these to you. I have a ton of homework to get done, so I'll be going." Ray said.

"Wait," I said standing up and hugging him. "Thank you." I said. He rubbed my back and nodded, walking out the door.

Ray POV.

"Thank God Clayton didn't notice my scars." I said walking into my house.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, you feeling better now?" Ray asked, walking into my room.

"Not much…" I said, looking up at him.

"Here, I brought you this…" Ray said, holding up a bag.

"Oh, that's alright…" I said, smiling weakly. My energy levels had been going down the drain.

"Nonsense!" He said happily, pulling out a bottle of pop, a bag of the GOOD cough drops, and a small box of candy.

"Really though…" I said.

"Shut up and eat the damn things." He said smiling. I ate one and then popped a cough drop in.

"Should I stay?" Ray asked.

"No, that's alright…" I said weakly.

"Alright, but you get a hold of me if you need me." He said, smiling and walking back out.

_I need you Ray, but I don't want to bother you_. I thought. I smiled and laid my head down on the pillow. I fell asleep in seconds.

"Clayton, Clayton wake up!" I heard a voice call. I opened my eyes to see a doctor standing over me.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"You've been in a coma for three weeks." He said. My eyes shot open wider.

"Three WEEKS!?" I asked loudly. He nodded. I sat up.

"I need some clothes." I said, refusing to stand up without my pants.

"Clayton, I already saw your thighs."

"I don't care. I'm more concerned about my ass." I said glaring. He handed me a pair of pants that would fit.

"What's been happening while I was out?" I asked.

"Well, your mother and father got into a fight over who's insurance would pay." He said sadly.

"Typical. I'm in a coma for three weeks and they fight over who has to pay more money." I muttered.

"Also, a sixteen year old boy who claims to be your boyfriend has visited every day, except the last three." He said. I pulled my shirt and sweat shirt on.

"Well, I'm going to go check out, and then I'm going to walk home."

"Sir, you need a parent to check you out." He said. I whirled on him and felt woozy.

"Back off." I said. He stood back. I walked out.

"Clayton L. I'm here to check out." I told the receptionist.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you need a parent to check you out." She said. I leaned in to talk to her.

"Look, my boyfriend hasn't visited in the past few days, and I'm concerned about this. Let me out, and I'll bring a parent back in a few hours." I reasoned. She nodded and I turned to walk out. I walked over to Ray's house and knocked. He came to the door looking dead. I encircled him in a hug. "Been a little bit hasn't it?" I asked smiling into his shoulder.

"Holy shit, child, you need to remember I'm not in the best condition. I told you if you needed me to stay, to SAY so." Ray lectured.

"Ray, who's there?" A seductive voice said. I stepped back.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Nobody." He said quickly.

"Oh…I see…You lost faith in me…Didn't you?" I asked, feeling hurt.

"Clayton, it's not what you think." He said quickly. I turned and walked away. I walked back to my house and told my father to go deal with the receptionist. I walked up to my room and locked the door. I then sat down in front of it and sobbed into my arms. I felt a knock on the door.

"Go away!" I yelled.

"Clayton, open up!" Ray asked. I stood up and whipped the door open.

"You have thirty seconds." I said.

"I did lose faith in you, so I called my best friend, and he came over to visit. He was just waking up because he spent the night." Ray explained. I stepped back, a little surprised then wrapped my arms around his chest, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm just…I don't know how to put it…" I said. He pulled away and kissed me.

"It's alright, I would probably be upset too." He said. I started to cry into his shoulder.

"I should've had more faith in you." I said.

"No. Stop." He said. I opened my eyes.

"You just need to do that much more." He said. I smiled and buried my face into his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

"Back in the digital world, where we should be." Clayton said, walking through the woods.

"Be careful." I warned. Clayton jumped and started climbing a big tree. He got halfway up the trunk, which was about eighty feet tall itself, and hung from a branch by his legs.

"I'm always careful." Clayton said smiling. He let his legs go, and with his damned leather gloves on, grabbed the trunk and slid down.

"Idiot." I said, smacking him in the back of the head, causing him to pout.

"Ouch…" he said rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm sorry." I said. He smiled and jumped onto my back, effectively pulling us both to the ground. Laughing on top of him I smiled and cuddled there for a second.

"Okay, you can get off me now." Clayton said laughing.

"Just a little longer." I said. He sighed and stood up with me in his arms.

"HEY, put me down!" I yelled.

"Well, you earned boredom from being carried." He said, walking. We were on a solo mission to find a gem and keep it out of any evil digimon's hands.

"I don't see why we can't just break the damned thing." I said annoyed.

"It probably holds some sort of mystical energy that keeps the world running." Clayton said.

"You're probably right." I said, falling out of Clayton's arms on purpose.

"Let's get a move on. It should be just through this cave." I said, walking in first. I used a mini flashlight Clayton had on him to illuminate the caves.

"Let's hurry. I'm bored." Clayton slightly whined.

"We're almost done." I said monotonously,

"Well, damn." Clayton said as he got a small cut from a stalagmite.

"Well, let's clean it up." I said, pulling his arm over to a small pool. He dipped his arm in, grabbed some sand from the bottom of the pit, and rubbed it over the small cut.

"Hey, is that what we need?" Clayton asked, gesturing to a small sapphire that was glowing.

"Probably." I said, reaching in and grabbing it.

"We should hurry and get out of- what the hell?" I yelled as suddenly we were drawn apart into different rooms. I could here Clayton screaming and pounding on the door.

"No, these are your trials. If you fail, you'll be dead and you won't get the stone. If you succeed, you'll have the stone and some foresight." A steely voice said. I calmed my nerves and asked what kind of trials.

"You may choose. Combat, Knowledge, or Athletic."

"Knowledge." I said.

"Alright, I'll ask you three riddles." He said.

"The poor have it, the rich want it, and the middle class doesn't need a ton of this." I thought for a few minutes.

"Is it nothing?" I asked. He nodded and a small light glowing beside my name glowed.

"I'm here once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in an hour. What am I?"

"Umm…Sound?" I asked. A buzzer beeped, and I felt a painful electric current run through me.

"One more failure and you'll be killed from the shock." The man warned. I nodded and got back up.

"What has a course but never studies, has two banks but has no money?" He asked.

I thought hard for a minute until I snapped my fingers.

"A river!" I said. He nodded and a door opened up behind him. He shot some energy into me that seemingly gave me knowledge when I needed. I only got half of the gem, but I ran out with it. I looked around for Clayton, but didn't see him.

Clayton POV.

"You have to choose. Knowledge, Athletics, or Combat." The man said.

"Combat." I said. I noticed my clothes glowing, and then I was in a multi-purpose battle uniform. A wall of armor appeared in front of me.

"You will be able to change through the armors as you want, but you will only have five weapons." The man said, all of the armors disappearing into my suit, somehow, I knew what all of them were called. Then weapons appeared. I looked around until I found the first one that suited me. I changed into an armor made of flexible material and slipped the weapon into the belt of that one. It was a whip handle that had a button on it instead of a whip, which led me to believe it was extendable. I then found a pair of swords, which I slipped into a different set of armor, traditional armor. I looked until I found a knife that wasn't the best, but fit me more than the others. I sheathed it in my ranged armor, along with the corresponding set of throwing knives. I finished with a simple staff, but it also had buttons on it, showing me it was multi purposed. Our digimon weren't sent with us, because this was a sector particularly dangerous for them, so if I used these weapons, I will be able to defend me and Ray.

"You have selected your weapons, you will be facing fifteen enemies, challenged by you at your will. If you survive them, you will finish with the hardest fight of them." The man said, motioning to a statue behind him. This is the digital world, but we weren't in the digimon center. We were in the sector were things like this are common. The statue was a large stone being, holding a giant sword. I changed back into my traditional armor, and stood out.

"Two." I said. Two beings holding large swords in dangerous looking armor appeared. I looked fearful, but gripped my twin blades and charged them. The first one backed off and me and the second duked it out for a bit. We clashed, and eventually I overwhelmed him with a three-strike slash through the stomach. The second charged. He had a much larger sword, and used it more efficiently. I fought for as long as I could, but that armor's weight was draining me fast, so I turned and ran through the arena, sheathing the swords, and changing armors. When I changed my armor, so did the battlefield. Instead of a plain old arena, now there were monkey bars, bars hung high off the ceiling, it was a jungle gym. I noticed I had changed into the wrong armor, but this one didn't take very much energy to fight with. I grabbed the whip, and extended it until I wrapped it around one of the ceiling posts, and then retracted it, making it pull me up. I noticed that it took me a while to change my armors. I let my whip off of the beam and swung around, striking my opponent in the face, causing his helmet to fall off. I then dropped down and hit him on the head. I finished it there.

_Thirteen more? How will I survive this? _I wondered. I decided that since I was getting faster every time, I would try a few more.

"Five." I said. Five powerful women stepped out. I noticed they all had larger swords and used them more efficiently. Also, that they believed in teamwork. I changed my armor to my light armor and grabbed the shaft, pressing on of the buttons, causing a glowing scythe blade to pop out. They charged and I swung it instinctively, knocking out three of them, and used it to block the other two's attacks. This armor took up a bunch of my energy too. I then changed completely back into my battle suit. I chose the throwing knife belt, the whip, and the swords. I slipped the swords on my back as a bunch of blocks simply hovered in the air now. I jumped onto one and started jumping among those, dodging every attack that came my way. I turned back and threw a knife into one's shoulder, then her chest. She fell and changed into dust along with the others. I grabbed my whip and struck the other across her legs with it, slamming her into various blocks along the way. She fell into dust as I slammed her onto the ground.

"Eight." I said. The eight apparently strongest people appeared, brandishing more powerful versions of my weapons. I paled and grabbed my auto-reloading knife belt and grabbed about twelve of the blades. I swung my arm in a wave motion, releasing all of them in a volley of attacks. I watched as every knife missed, except for one, which hit its target. The others were either blocked or dodged. Grimaced and grabbed my knife in one hand, whip in the other. As I attacked, I spun in a circle, effectively lashing most of the enemies, and then I sliced another's throat. I finished it off quickly and noticed that two had changed weapons like me. They were now on top of blocks. The other four were brandishing scythes, axes, swords, and knives. I dodged the arrows shot at me, and then continued to dodge, flip, slide, and jump until I was nearly out of energy. I took a chance and waved my whip in a wave motion, so nobody could get close to me, then I threw the knives out in waves. I finished the two archers off with this technique, and then one of the fighters on the ground. I put them away and changed my weapons to my spear head shaft and my knife. I threw the spear into one's chest, making it disintegrate, and then the knife into the other's. I faced up against the last one, the one I'd been avoiding most. The stone guardian. He slashed downward and I jumped. I threw every knife I could into her, but she shrugged them off. I lashed as many times as I could with my whip, but it shrugged those off too. I then changed into the scariest looking armor and slashed down with one of my swords, right onto it's neck, killing it quickly. I then staggered and found how drained I was. I forced myself to walk out the door and then grabbed the gem out of the small bag. I didn't change out of the armor or give back the small device that did it.

"Ray!" I called, falling onto my face. This wasn't a good time to pass out. We had just entered the demon sector of the digital world.


	5. Chapter 5

Ray POV.

"Clayton, Clayton wake up!" I shouted, shaking my boyfriend's shoulders. He simply stirred and grabbed onto my shirt. I struggled to lift him, as he was much taller.

"Huh? Ray, what are you doing?" He asked groggily, sitting up. I fell back in relief.

"You're alive. I sent out a distress signal to the others and our digimon using Izzy's cell phone. We should be able to get out of here soon if we can find the entrance back into-," I was cut off by Clayton standing up abruptly.

"I can't go in again. I can't win that fight again without some major resting up and some time to recuperate. Let's just, lay here and rest for a while." Clayton said, falling back down. I sat by him and wondered.

_Did he choose combat? He's still thirteen! How could he have beat anybody in a session of intense combat?_

"Hey Clay," I said, using his nickname. "How did you win the combat exercises?" I asked, confused. Clayton smiled and tapped his watch.

"They gave me the ability to change weapons and armors in a moment's notice. But it runs off of my life force. If I use too much at one time, I'll die." He said considering.

"Then don't use it!" I cried. I tried to touch the watch but it seemed to reject my touch.

"Already tried, it's apparently infused itself into my bodily functionary systems." Clayton said, sounding all sciency.

"Hmm. Alright, but, remember. If this thing uses that much energy in here, it'll probably be multiplied by a thousandth fold using it in our world." I said. I wish our digimon were capable of traveling with us. But, until they were, we would be on our own. I sat down as Clayton handed me a sword that glowed and appeared out of nowhere.

"Use this and take watch. I'm going to sleep for a bit." Clayton said, with a yawn. He laid back onto my shoulder and was sleeping quietly for a while. After about seven hours, I felt my own body drain of energy. I tried shaking Clayton awake, but he wasn't waking up. I fell with him next to me, as a dark figure loomed over us.

"Don't…Hurt…Him…" I muttered as I passed out.

Clayton POV.

I woke up, strangely chained to a wall. I moved me legs out from under me, and tried to activate my abilities, but they wouldn't work. I noticed Ray passed out across from me.

"Ray, Ray, RAY!" I called a few times. No response. I tried to cut the chains, but couldn't get a good weapon angle. I called out a few more times until I heard quiet footsteps. I glanced up at a demonic being.

"What did you do to him?" I spat at the being. She smiled condescendingly.

"The masters requested both of you alive. So, alive you will be." She said. "Not for much longer though, when he wakes up, I'm to bring you two for decision on your fate. Our masters, seem to have…Worked up a special…Appetite for human male meat." She said evilly. I snapped in front of her, but the chains held me back. She waved her finger. "Better watch your step little boy. You might just step into a pit of acid." She said, pointing at the ground as the cobblestone melted away, and a large Pit of boiling green liquid appeared in its stead.

"I'm going now. Make more racket when your friend wakes up." She said, annoyed. She walked back in the direction she came from. I struggled against my chains for a while until Ray woke up. The woman came back at my sigh of relief.

"I will free you, but be warned. Try anything, and it's your lives." She said, cutting the chains off. I rubbed my wrists, and walked over, helping Ray walk. We walked for a while, until we were in th middle of a chamber.

"This is the Digi-demon empress. Be kind, and she may let you live." The nasty woman said, walking out of the door.

"Well, a pair of men I see. Humans will never cease to disgust me." She said. I felt Ray stiffen beside me, and I rubbed his back, calming his anger.

"What do you want?" I asked her menacingly.

"Tone mere mortal. I want you of course. I want you to do me." She said maliciously. I backed away, horrified at what laid under her armor.

"Never. I wouldn't hurt Ray." I said, shielding him from all the demons hissing laughs.

"Well, I guess we're done. Take them aw-," She was interrupted by a large fissure appearing in the ceiling. When it crumbled, Erik was standing at guard with a digimon none of us had seen in a while. Scythemon's twin.

"Bataramon." I whispered. Garenomon and Skellymon jumped out and digivolved as well.

"We were born out of the emotions of our friends, our partners, and our landscapes. We are pure feeling. We are more powerful than any demonmon." Scythemon said, brandishing his scythe. Our digimon dropped beside us and put us on their shoulders, then flew out, with Bataramon bringing up the rear.

"Erik, thanks for getting us out of there." I said, once we had landed back in the relatively friendly part of the digiworld.

"No problem. I couldn't let you two get hurt." He said, a faraway look in his eyes.

"No, really, thanks. I wouldn't have been able to fight us out of there. No matter how strong my armor is, it wouldn't have been enough." I said. He smiled.

"Well, can you thank me by showing me some armor?" He asked. I nodded and changed through the armors, letting him see. He gasped when he saw some of the combinations I came up with. I then sat back down, tired from how much energy I used. I was holding the extendable whip in my hands and just lie there, resting my head against Ray's shoulder.

"Hey guys, we need to go." Erik said suddenly.

"What? Why?" I whined. I heard a laugh I never thought I'd hear again.

"Didn't think it would be that easy to get away from me, did you?" The Demon Empress asked.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ray, get behind me." I said, pushing my boyfriend back lightly.

"I won't let you get hurt again." Ray said forcefully, standing in front of me. I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and look at me.

"Ray, just trust me. Let me keep the promise I made myself." I said quietly. "Let me protect you." I saw the queen watching with interest. I decided to pretend I didn't notice.

"Fine…" He said with reluctance. I wrapped him in a hug, and turned to face the queen, except, she was gone. I looked at Erik, to see him gripping his head, screaming in what seemed to be pain.

"Erik?" I asked, tentatively putting a hand on his shoulder. He stopped, suddenly. He looked up at me, with glowing purple eyes.

"Erik's gone. I'm in control." He said, in the queen's voice. He punched me in the stomach, which hurt much more than it should have. I fell back into a tree, and fell to my knees.

"Clayton!" Ray called. I stood up, and grabbed a sword. I stepped in front of Ray.

"Don't touch him." I warned. Demon Erik smiled, and swatted me in the arm, which should've broken it, but didn't. It threw me into the ground. I looked on in horror as Demon Erik grabbed Ray, kissed him, and then threw him off a cliff into the deep ocean.

"RAY!" I screamed in my sad voice. His swimming still wasn't strong enough to handle the ocean's waves. I changed into my clothes and jumped off the cliff, diving down into the deep water. I changed into heavy armor so I sank faster. I sank until I saw his hand, reaching up. I grabbed it, tried to change into my clothes, but was out of energy. I struggled until I couldn't move anymore. I pulled Ray up to me, and kissed him, giving him the breath of air I had, then I sent him up, onto a rock that was behind me.

Ray POV.

I coughed, and woke up on a rock. I looked around, and saw an armored shape sink. My heart started beating fast, and I realized I hadn't been able to swim. There was only one person who swam strongly enough to catch me before I drowned. I sat, stunned, and watched on in horror, as my boyfriend sank lower. I looked around, and saw a small cylinder I never thought I'd see. I grabbed it, and extended the ship length, down into the water. I extended until I felt a grab and tug. I retracted it, but it wasn't enough on its own. I pulled the whip up and pulled my fully armored boyfriend out of the water. I pulled is armor off, and checked for breathing and a pulse. He wasn't breathing, but had a faint pulse. I started performing CPR. After three minutes, I finally got him to cough up the water and breath.

"Clayton?" I asked. He opened his eyes, and latched onto me.

"You aren't allowed to nearly drowned every again!" Clayton said. I smiled and hugged him back.

"You are never allowed to try to sacrifice yourself to save me." I said smiling.


	7. Chapter 7

Demon Queen/Erik POV.

I saw those two on the rock below me and cursed. I charged up a small energy sphere, when their digimon knocked me aside.

"Get out of Erik's body." Daragoramon said.

"Yes, leave his body, and this area, or we _will_ harm you." Skellymon said.

"Ha, you don't have the power to make me. Only Angelmon have the ability to remove a Demon from its forced body possession!" I said, evilly.

"TK, why are we here again?" Davis asked, as the other digidestined ran towards us.

"I feel that Clayton and Ray need us!" TK replied. They saw my glowing eyes and stopped.

"TK, get everyone and back up!" Patamon said as he began digivolving.

"Kari, follow his lead." Gatomon said, beginning to digivolve as well.

"Patamon, digivolve to…"

"Gatomon, digivolve to…"

"Angemon!"

"Angewomon!"

"What? Angelmon?!" I demanded.

"Leave Erik's body, or we will make you." Angemon said with authority.

"Never!" I shrieked.

"Well, we'll have to banish you then." Angewomon said.

"Twin Digimon, Override!" Angemon and Angewomon called, grabbing each other's hands. They started to glow, and then shot a beam of light through my heart.

Erik POV.

I felt an evil presence leave me, and dropped to my knees, seeing the Demon Queen standing over me.

"I'm going to rip you apart, limb by limb." She said, bending down, but stopped when a pair of arrows struck her in the chest. I turned to see Angemon and Angewomon holding their weapons, standing at guard. I saw Angemon fly down, then fly back up the cliff, holding Ray and Clayton in his hand.

"Ray, Clayton!" I called, running to them. I stopped when I saw Ray put his arm in front of Clayton.

"No, you won't touch him again." Ray said defensively. I stopped looked around, then heard a shriek, a large group of Demon Digimon were invading the isles.

"Guys, we need to go. Those digimon are relentless and probably WILL kill every digimon until they find us." Clayton said. The digimon nodded and rest of the original six came running.

"Guys, the human world is in danger, there's some sort of digital surge going on in here!" Izzy said.

"We know, apparently the demonmon do NOT like it when someone kills their empress." Cody said.

"Yeah, we should get out of here and find some place to hide." Yolei said.

"We still have Datamon's laboratory set up for us." Ken said. We nodded, and started running in that direction.

Clayton POV.

I ran, and ran, and ran, until my legs felt like they were going to fall off.

"Guys, I can't go any further." I said, panting.

"Come on Clayton, we're almost there!" Erik said, lifting me onto my feet.

"No, I really can't go any further. I'm about to freaking lay down, and die." I said, panting. Being in the desert with the closest lake a mile away from Datamon's lab didn't help much.

"Well, you have to!" Ray said, lifting me onto his shoulder, helping me run. I wasn't much more than a burden though. I tried, but couldn't find the power to do much more than lay down and sleep.

"I shouldn't have used so much armor." I said.

"Well, you had to put it back on afterwards." Ray said, still running, while carrying me. He slipped, and fell on top of me. We rolled down a hill while the other digidestined ran after us. I stood, but when he hit me, my ankle bent in a wrong direction.

I screamed out in pain, and fell, just hoping that I didn't need it reset.

"Clayton!" The others yelled, running towards us. I lay, biting my sleeve to avoid screaming every profane word I knew into the sky.

"What happened?" Joe said, kneeling by me.

"I broke my ankle." I said through sweat.

"That isn't good. I haven't a stretcher. Guys, we're going to have to form a stretcher with our arms to get him back to Datamon's lab. He can't run." Joe said. The others nodded, and looped their arms the way Joe showed them how. They ran while carrying me. After we got down into where we had made a camp, they set me on a table, and Joe looked at my ankle, again.

"I'll cast it for you. Just be careful, because we're going to have to make crutches." Joe said. I nodded, and bit my sleeve as he cast my ankle again. After he was finished, Erik and Ray, accompanied by Ken and Davis came and sat by me.

"Hey." I said. Ray laid down beside me, while Erik, Ken, and Davis sat next to me.

"How you doing?" Ken asked.

"Tired. Pained. Annoyed, the list goes on, but I'll stop there." I said. Davis started laughing.

"What's funny?" Erik asked.

"It's just, I've realized none of us have hung out before. I'm throwing a part back in the human world!" Davis yelled loudly, until Ken smacked him in the back of the head.

Davis POV.

"Shush, they're sleeping." Ken said, pointing at the two boys asleep on the floor. I smiled, and laid down beside them with Ken.

"Goodnight everybody." I said, laying my head down for sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

"Clayton, it's time to get up." Ray said, shaking my shoulder.

"I can't. I'm unable to perform the simplest of tasks today." I reasoned, pulling him back down into a hug.

"Well, we need you. You're one of the only people who can cook." Ray said. I sighed, and stood up. Davis helped me, and Ken handed me my crutches. I thanked them, and walked as best I could over to where I had a few ingredients the desert yielded. I managed to cook it up into something that was alright. We enjoyed breakfast, and then heard a boom. We looked over to where a squad of about ten demonmon stood.

"Leave them to us." The original Digidestined said. Tai, Matt, Sora, Mimi, Joe, and Izzy. The remaining four demonmon were occupied by Yolei, and Cody.

"Ken, Davis, take Erik, Clayton, and Ray, and get the hell out of here. We'll catch up." Matt said. They nodded and our digimon started to run with us. We heard the clashes beginning behind us, and it took all of my will not to turn around, and fight with them. I knew there were two Demonmon pursuing us.

"Come out little children." One said.

"Yes, we're hungry." The other said. I stood up, and with Garenomon with me, I walked out to face them.

"You don't get to hurt my friends." I said, as the crest of Regret started glowing.

"Garenomon digivolve to…SCYTHEMON!" The large humanoid digimon called, grabbing his scythe. The two demonmon pulled out a sword and a spear, and attacked. Scythemon deleted them with a swift move. I almost didn't catch how he spun into the air, swung his scythe, and ended the evil digimon's existence. He picked me up, and with my crutches, we were off. The other's digimon digivolved and followed suit.

"You guys, we need to go help them!" I called, as I saw a particularly large demonmon fighting with Lilymon and Birdromon.

"I'll go help, you guys keep going." Ken said. Stingmon nodded, and flew back to help the others.

"Clayton, is it necessary that you can move?" Bataramon asked. I nodded my head.

"It would be extremely helpful." I said. He nodded, and him, Titaniskellymon, and Scythemon lowered their hoods, a glance in the eyes, and I felt an intense pain. I screamed out and my cast exploded.

"We have the ability to heal any wound, but at three times the initial pain." Batarom explained. I nodded and realized where we had flown. We were all back together, but with a large hoard of demonmon surrounding us.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"We have to split up. This is where all the typed convene." Matt said. We nodded.

"Yolei, you and me." Mimi said. They ran off into the Grassland sector.

"Joe, me and you." Matt said. Joe nodded, and they ran off into the glacier area.

"Well Davis, me and you." Tai said.

"Alright!" Davis said, and they ran off into the volcanic sector.

"Kari, me and you." TK said.

"Right." Kari said. They jogged off into the sector the light was the brightest.

"Cody, let's do it." Izzy said.

"Aha!" he said, they ran towards the technological sector.

"Erik, go with Ray, Sora, and Ken! You guys need to combat the demonmon in the Demon sector itself." I said grimly.

"What about you?" Ray asked.

"I'm taking the ocean. I'm the strongest swimmer here, and you guys underestimate Scythemon's abilities in the water." I said. I saw Erik look doubtful, then pull something out of a bag and throw it to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A pair of goggles and a re-breather, they'll let you stay underwater and live." Erik said. I nodded, and slipped them on. The re-breather was like a small mask, slipping on over my face, and stopping below my eyes. It covered most of my neck, and I dove in after slipping the goggles on.

_Can you hear me?_ I heard in my mind.

_What?_ I asked.

_Can you hear me? _Scythmon was looking at me and nodded. I nodded back, and we swam together. I saw the smalled demonmon, those that were about my size. I changed into water armor, and pulled out the knives. Charged forward, alongside Scythemon, and we fought together. I fought until one clawed my thigh. I screamed in my mind, but couldn't out loud. I continued to fight, until I felt myself slipping into the painless bliss of unconsciousness. I saw Scythemon slip me into the pocket of his hoodie, and fight on. I felt the warmth radiating from him. I slipped, no longer able to stay awake.

Ray POV.

"You guys, we're almost done, let's keep it up!" Sora shouted. We had found a few weapons from smaller digimon that have fallen. We were fighting the small demonmon, until I saw that there was one giant demonmon left. Our digimon charged up towards it, and started fighting it. I saw all the others run towards us.

"Hey, there weren't many demonmon in our areas!" Tai said.

"It would appear that demonmon are most suited to this hell area and the Ocean." Izzy said.

"WHAT?!" I cried.

"The ocean." Izzy said.

"Clayton went down there alone!" We yelled. Our digimon finally deleted the large demonmon, and we all started running back towards the ocean. What we saw was an unconscious Clayton, with a Scythemon that was almost overrun.

"Get Clayton out of there!" Lilymon said, flying up and helping Scythemon in the fight.

"Let's do it!" Greymon shouted, joining in the fight.

"Of course!" Garurumon said, jumping right in.

"Right!" The Angel twins said, spiraling upward, and performing attack after attack of Celestial Arrows and Light beams. We fought until the last demonmon was defeated.

"You guys, let's get back to the human world." I said. I woke Clayton up and carried him back to the human world.

Clayton POV.

"Huh? Ray…Where are we?" I asked.

"We're back in the human world.


	9. Chapter 9

"We're back in the Human World." Ray said to me. I saw our digimon standing behind us.

"It seems the electronic fluctuations have stabilized." Izzy said.

"I said I was throwing a party, didn't I?" Davis asked.

"Y, yeah." I said.

"Well, since it's Friday, we'll all go get what we need. I moved into a large house, easily capable of fitting all of us in it!" Davis said, grinning childishly.

"A, alright…" I said, very hesitant. I've never hung out with any of them other than Ray and Erik before. "I'll leave a note for my dad." I said, Ray putting me down. I walked over to the door.

"I'll be back here in about fifteen minutes." I said. I walked outside the door, and ran. I ran all the way back to my house. I threw the door open and ran inside. I jumped onto my bed, and yanked out a razor. I pressed it against my wrist and started slashing. It felt so good. I smiled in relief. I set the razor down, and heard a gasp. I looked up to see TK, Kari, and Davis standing in the doorway.

"Clayton…What, what are you doing?" Kari asked. I started to tear up as I walked into the bathroom. I grabbed a roll of bandages, and disinfectant.

"I'm cutting myself…" I said through the tears streaming down my face. I put the disinfectant on and bit my lip. I then put bandage on my wrists and put a sweatshirt on, giving them my best fake smile.

"No, don't try that façade with me. I know when smiles are fake." Davis said. I frowned and dropped my act. I sat back. TK stood above me with a glare to be reckoned with. I looked up at him afraid for a moment, until his gaze softened and he opened his arms. I jumped up into his arms. I started sobbing into his shoulder as he sat down with me in his arms.

"It's okay…It's okay Clayton, just calm down…" TK said. I cried until I felt myself start loosening up.

"But…How do you guys not hate me?" I asked. TK smiled sadly at me.

"We couldn't. Matt, myself, Davis, and Sora have all gone through similar situations." TK said. I rolled up his sleeve to see scars there.

"I'm sorry…I don't deserve to be friends with you guys." I said. Davis and Kari sat down beside me.

"You deserve our friendship as much as the next person. We're friends with everyone, until someone gives us a reason not to be." Davis said smiling.

"Yeah…Now come on, you're staying the night." TK said. I nodded, and picked up my bag, slipped a sweatshirt into it, a spare shirt, pajama pants, an extra pair of jeans, and a change of underwear.

"Well, we should probably get going." Kari said. I nodded and picked my bag up, washing my face clear of all signs I'd been crying. I picked up my bag and walked with them back to Davis' house, stopping by Ray's to pick him up. He had a bag and walked behind us.

"So, how're things going?" TK asked me as I walked with Ray beside me.

"I'm a more recent immigrant from the United States. I learned a lot about your country by watching a lot of Anime. After a while, I felt confident in my ability to speak Japanese, so dad moved with me here.

"Oh, you speak English?" Kari asked. I nodded, and said a long phrase in English.

"Wow, I've never heard English spoken so easily. You would pass the English class in school with no problem." Davis said.

"I know, that's why I'm not taking it." I said. They nodded. I walked in silence for a while.

"Clayton, have you been…You know…" Ray started. My eyes widened slightly.

"No, no I haven't." I answered quickly. _Too_ quickly I realized.

"Clayton, please roll up your sleeves." Ray said.

"N…No, I'm fine." I said. The others looked at me with pity. I sighed, and held out my arms. Ray took them gently into his own, rolling up the sleeves, he saw the bandages.

"Why did you…" Ray started.

"Because, I'm worthless, I wasn't able to help Scythemon when we were fighting against the Demonmon. I couldn't do anything to help him, and that's why." I said.

"Clayton…" Kari started.

"No, it's the truth. I'm useless. I can't fight very well." I said.

"That's a goddamn lie." Ray said. "I saw you fighting against that bitch, trying to protect me." Ray said.

"Let's just…Have fun. We can talk about this later." I said, not wanting to ruin the other's fun.

"Alright, but I want you to tell all of the others." Ray said.

"I…I don't know if I can…" I said.

"Please…Try to, for me…" He pleaded. I nodded, and stopped myself from crying again.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Tai yelled, the others standing behind him.

"Yeah, we had to take care of something, but we're here." Davis said.

"Aha, now we can have fun!" Kari said.

"Well, let's not waste our time." Matt said. Our digimon stood by their respective partners.

"So, let's play truth or dare." Davis suggested. "But in separate age groups. The older digidestined, take that area. That includes you Ray."

"Alright." He said, walking over by them.

"So, Clayton, truth or dare," Davis asked.

"Truth." I said.

"How long have you known you liked guys?" He asked.

"Since I was thirteen." I replied.

"Yolei, truth or dare," I asked.

"Dare." She said.

"I dare you to go and hug one of the older digidestined from behind." I said. She walked back behind Izzy, and hugged him. He was startled, then blushed. Yolei walked back over.

"Ken, truth or dare," Yolei asked the navy haired boy.

"Dare." He replied quietly.

"I dare you to kiss your boyfriend." Yolei said evilly.

"Okay." He replied, kissing Davis. Davis kissed back and it was done.

"Erik, truth or dare?" Ken asked.

"Truth." He said.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Ken asked. Erik blushed for a moment.

"Clayton." He said. I smiled.

"Well, don't touch." I jokingly said.

"Kari, truth or dare?" Erik asked.

"Dare." She said.

"I dare you, to kiss TK." He said meanly. "On the lips." TK blushed, and looked away.

"I suppose it's late to mention this, but I'm gay." TK said.

"Okay, well, kiss him Kari." Erik said. Kari gave TK a peck on the lips and sat back down.

"Cody truth or dare?" She asked.

"Truth." He said.

"Would you trade Armadillomon for a different digimon?" She asked.

"Of course not!" Cody cried. "He's my best friend!"

"Okay." Kari said, shrinking back.

"TK, truth or dare?" Cody asked.

"Dare." TK said.

"I dare you, to kiss the digidestined you like most." Cody said. TK stood up, shut his eyes, and walked out of the circle, stood there for a moment, gathering everyone's attention, and turned to quickly kiss me. I sat stunned for a moment, but then gently pushed him off. Ray's eyes were burning so madly, that I don't doubt if looks could kill, TK would be a pile of ashes right now. He stood up, but I stood in front of him.

"Calm down Ray." I said calmly. "I'll take care of it." I said. He went back to sitting with the older digidestined, and glared at TK every now and then.

"TK, I'm sorry you feel that way about me. I do still want to be friends, but please don't kiss me again." I said. TK nodded.

"Well, that's enough of that game." Davis decided. We re-convened in the center of the room.

"So, what should we do now?" TK asked.

"Leave my boyfriend alone." Ray muttered, but I heard him. I shot him a death glare and he shut up relatively quickly.

"Guys, something's wrong!" I heard Kari yell. She turned up the news.

_A man has been found dead on the streets, he was mugged, shot, and left to die._ The news lady said._ Tragedy has struck this man and his family._ She finished. I stared on in horror.

"D, dad…" I said, before stumbling back and passing out.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed, but surrounded by familiar people. I sat up, to see the others sitting around me.

"Tell me it was a dream. Somebody tell me it was a dream!" I said, desperately. The others looked on with sad faces. I stood up, and fell down, immediately engulfed in two people's embrace. I felt TK and Ray embrace me. Erik stood next to me. I sat, sobbing into their embrace.

"Clayton, please be strong, if not for you for us. We need you." Ray said.

"I can't…I can't keep it up…" I said. "I can't keep up the smile."

"Never lose your smile." TK said. "My parents can't stand to be within a mile of each other."

"Mine couldn't either, that's why I live with my father." I said. "My mother has my sister."

"We need you Clayton." Davis said.

"Don't lose sight of what's important." Kari said. I snapped my head up to face her.

"My father was important. He was a world to me." I said. "If I hadn't let him go alone, I could've protected him."

"We're here. Japan has different laws. Since you're a citizen of Japan now, the law is if your friend's parents will do it, you can live with them instead of being sent to live with your mother." Davis said.

"No, I don't want to be a burden." I said. "I only ever cause the people around me grief." I said. TK slapped me, shocking me. I looked up, holding my face. He had tears streaming down his own face.

"Stop saying that bullshit." He said. "You are NOT causing us trouble. We'll be here for you so you don't have to go live in the United States." TK said.

"If any of you are willing, I won't deny you. But if none of you are absolutely positive, I won't have a problem with living in the USA. In fact, Ray is from there originally." I said. They looked at Ray, and he nodded.

"I'll speak with my father. He isn't around a lot, so he shouldn't have a problem with you living with us." Matt said, pulling out his phone. He went and made a call. I stopped crying so hard, I just lay in the calming presence of Ray. TK stood up and started talking with the other digidestined. Matt came back.

"My father is calling his lawyer to see if he can legally adopt you." Matt said, smiling. I smiled up at him.

"I need to get a job." I muttered.

"So, Clayton, how long has your self-harm problem been going on?" Matt asked concerned.

"How did you…" I asked.

"I saw the bandage under your sleeve." Matt explained. The other digidestined look interested.

"It's been going on since I was twelve. So about two years." I said, sadly. I knew I couldn't put it off forever, but I knew I would have to fill out my father's life insurance claim, and make funeral plans.

"What?" Matt asked, horrified. He picked me up, and brought me back to the bathroom.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"Strip." He commanded.

"What? NO!" I said.

"Just do it. Not till you're naked. You don't even need to do it all at once. I need to see you without your shirt, and I need to see you without your pants." Matt explained, as Joe stood behind him. I took off my sweatshirt and shirt, exposing the cuts I had all over my chest, my stomach, my sides, shoulders, and arms. He gasped, counting the scars.

"Seventy six cuts on your chest, forty seven on each arm…" He said. I put my shit and hoodie back on, and slipped out of my pants. He started counting.

"Two hundred and ninety four…" I said, finishing counting the scars. "You have two hundred and ninety four scars on you." He said, tears flowing from his eyes.

"I know…Each one holds a different day of heartache, pain, and suffering." I said, starting to sob again. Matt held me until I was done. I lay there, sobbing until I finally cried myself to sleep.

Matt POV.

I carried Clayton out, seeing as he was curled up in my arms. He whimpered when I set him down, and Ray took him in his arms.

"What are we going to do? We can't leave him unattended for long periods of time anymore." Joe said.

"We'll be right here." Ray said. "We have to have faith that he'll recover with us. We can't just leave him in this state."

"We have to fix the broken heart." TK said. "We have to piece him back together part by part, until he is no longer broken."

"And if it takes forever, so be it." We all decided.


End file.
